John Seigenthaler, a journalist, civil rights activist and “right hand” to Robert F. Kennedy – who once hired a young reporter named Al Gore to work under him at the Tennessean – died of colon cancer Friday in Nashville. He was 86.
His death was confirmed by his son, John M. Seigenthaler, an anchor with Al-Jazeera America.
As Kennedy’s go-between to the Southern states in the early 1960s, and as a maverick journalist, Seigenthaler infuriated segregationists at a time when few white professionals were willing to risk their wrath, said the Rev. James Lawson, a civil rights advocate and teacher now living in Los Angeles.
Lawson was the young architect of the Nashville sit-in campaign when Seigenthaler was a newspaper editor. He recalled the distinct approach that Seigenthaler and the Tennessean staff took toward the movement. The Tennessean “did not operate from the bias of segregation and racism but simply reported what was going on,” Lawson said.
Seigenthaler was administrative assistant to Robert Kennedy at the Justice Department from 1960 to 1962, worked on his presidential campaign and remained close to the Kennedy family.